QLD Government brings in harsher penalties for feeding Dingoes

The Queensland government has changed the penalty of feeding dingoes to be greater than $10,000 as a result of a toddler being dragged from a camper trailer on Fraser Island recently.

The maximum fine has been doubled and now stands at $10,444 while the minimum fine is $2088 which is five times more than what it was originally.

Environment Minister Leeanne Enoch says by the government increasing fines it will really reinforce to people who deliberately disturb or feed dingoes how dangerous the practice is.

 

New street off Lytton Rd opened including new traffic light intersection

In local news, a new street has been opened, running off Lytton Road with a new set of lights added.

The street will be named Kulpurum St which is the Indigenous name for Norman Park.

Councillor Jonathan Sri believes it’s really positive that the community was given a say as to the name of this street, that was on the basis of a suggestion from a local Aboriginal elder and it was great that residents voted for that option.

Historic Norman Hotel up for sale at $40M

Brisbane’s historic Norman Hotel has hit the market with a $40 million price tag.

The Woolloongabba hotel has had its doors open for nearly 130 years and is being sold by the Power family - of Power’s Brewery fame - who purchased it in 2015.

Known by locals as “Brisbane’s worst vegetarian restaurant” for its praiseworthy steaks, owner James Power says when the opportunity arose to purchase the hotel, he thought it would be a great investment.

Australians paid $41B more tax in most recent financial year

Looking across the nation, new Australian Bureau of Statistics data shows that in the 2017-18 financial year Australians paid more than $41 billion more in taxes than in the 2016-17 financial year.

The research reveals that Australia’s total tax revenue increased by $41.8 billion which means it totalled $529 billion for the 2017-18 financial year, which is up from $487 billion in the previous financial year.

Freak weather in Rio kills ten with flooding and mudslides

In international news, floods in Rio de Janeiro have killed at least ten people as the city becomes more concerned for its capability of withstanding extreme weather events.

152 millimetres of rain fell in four hours on Tuesday which amounts to the average rainfall for April in the city.

The city’s fire department reported 10 deaths including 3 buried in a car by mudslides.

 

Choc giant switches to sustainable cocoa

Mondelez International, which manufactures Cadbury and Milka, is attempting to protect its business from global warming by making the switch to sustainable cocoa.

Mondelez is currently sourcing around 43% of the cocoa for its chocolate brands through its Cocoa Life program, which provides educational and financial support to cocoa farmers in order to improve crop yield.

This week, Mondelez pledged to raise this figure to 100% by 2025, saying without a good source of quality cocoa, they can’t have a healthy chocolate business.

Dreamtime: Tidal Mind

- Two and a half years have rolled by since the last -fondly remembered- Dreamtime record and y’know? In that time I can barely think of an occasion when I’ve heard a mention of them. They should be pretty hard to miss, being nearly the loudest purveyors of mind-bending psych that Brisbane can boast and, look at that, they have record deals sewn up in Australia, Europe and the US. For once there might actually be truth in the cliche, ‘the best band you’ve never heard of.’

Helms Alee: Noctiluca

<p><span><span>- Much like the salty ocean they so clearly adore, Pacific Northwest band Helms Alee (a name which is a sailor’s turn-of-phrase meaning ‘come about’), well they can be a fickle mistress. They’ve settled on the label sludge metal for what they do, though they don’t sound like <strong>Eyehategod</strong>, <strong>Neurosis</strong> or recent touring partners <strong>Melvins</strong>.